Nitish’s precarious new inning

What Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has to establish is that his governance style, and scale and vision of achievement, are not cramped, now that he is in partnership with RJD strongman Lalu Prasad Yadav — the architect of the earlier “jungle raj” in Bihar — and the Congress Party compared to the years when he led the state in alliance with the BJP, with which he had a bitter falling out. 

The “jungle raj” was pretty much BJP’s sole refrain against Mr Kumar in the recent election campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his acolyte Amit Shah, the BJP president. The voting showed that the people of the state did not regard it as an issue in today’s context. They did not hesitate to return Mr Kumar to power in a handsome way, this time in the company of Mr Yadav’s party. Indeed, RJD won more seats than  Mr Kumar’s JD(U).

 

The focus naturally now has to be on governance on which Mr Kumar’s reputation rests, whether he is with secular or communal allies. There is not much point in being distracted by both of Mr Yadav’s young sons being made Cabinet ministers, and one of them indeed being named the deputy CM.  This does not sit right seen in terms of the purest democratic ideal. But just like water takes the shape of the vessel in which it is held, democracy adopts to the clime. If Tejaswi Yadav becomes deputy CM the first time he enters the legislature, there is more than one noteworthy precedent. Let’s think no farther than Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik and former Gujarat CM Narendra Modi. Mr Modi also became PM the first time he entered Parliament. Mr Patnaik and Mr Modi were not in public life before they became chief ministers, although Mr Modi was a full-time worker of the RSS and in that sense conversant with the pulls, push and demands of factional politics and socio-political concerns. He learnt the rest on the job.

 

Will Mr Kumar, who was sworn in on Friday in Patna with top non-BJP leaders of the country and some 25,000 people watching, have easy sailing? Not necessarily. RJD, the number one party, may seek to assert itself from time to time. But this is par for the course in a coalition. The whole point is to not let the boat be rocked beyond a point. This is especially so since the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) allies are seeing visions of taking the political arteries of India by storm in a bid to challenge the BJP-led NDA regime at the Centre. But they will be well-advised not to get carried away by the presence in Patna of so many top-notch politicians. Let them first show good governance in Bihar and unity of purpose in Parliament.